it's okay -- i feel sorry for her, but have to admit that it's GOING to happen sooner or later, given where i live (high on Sonoma Mtn, on the edge of some pretty wild protected lands) & the fact that i let then free-range some of the time. trying to be pragmatic.

hatched chick total 4 out and about. Two mut reds, 1 Dorking/Polish and 1 choc rock. Moved the first two to the brooder. They were laying on top of the eggs that have been trying to hatch

I have a Rock that has been wearing an egg shell cape for the better part of 6 hours and two pips. The hatching champs so far are the mutts from my uncle's pen fewer than two hours soup to nuts.

I have to work a fundraiser all day tomorrow hoping the little choc rock can shake free of her shell before I have to leave for that. I guess if it is still there I will put a damp paper towel on it?? and try to get home mid day to check on everyone.

I have a broody EE that's been sitting on 5 of my silkie eggs for 2 weeks now. She was broody and I figured I've got these fertile eggs just sitting here -so good timing! They should hatch next Friday. Wellllllllll, the problem is that I don't trust her as a first time Momma, especially to my silkie babies. I had planned to separate them and hand raise the babies anyway (eventually adding them to my silkie pens). Would it be too terrible for her if I stuck her in a broody-breaker and hatched the chicks in one of my incubators? I don't want to traumatize her for the rest of her chicken life but maybe chickens really don't care?

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Chickens have very short term memories. If you don't mind breaking a chicken of broody then she will soon forget if you can break her. If you can't ... some keep trying until they have chicks. Each bird is different. But they will forgive you if you feed them mealworms...

I have a broody EE that's been sitting on 5 of my silkie eggs for 2 weeks now. She was broody and I figured I've got these fertile eggs just sitting here -so good timing! They should hatch next Friday. Wellllllllll, the problem is that I don't trust her as a first time Momma, especially to my silkie babies. I had planned to separate them and hand raise the babies anyway (eventually adding them to my silkie pens). Would it be too terrible for her if I stuck her in a broody-breaker and hatched the chicks in one of my incubators? I don't want to traumatize her for the rest of her chicken life but maybe chickens really don't care?

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I was wondering the same thing. I have a broody Silkie sitting on 6 eggs, and I have more eggs in my incubator. When they hatch I want to put all the chicks together in the brooder, but I don't to traumatize the Mama.

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Now taking the chicks away from momma will cause clucking and calling and looking for about a day. Then she decides they are all dead. She may go broody on you again. Make sure to feed her well if she does it again- because going broody can take a lot out of a bird if they don't eat and drink properly. [/quote Thank you. I was hoping it was something like that I will finish up that broody cage and plan on giving her extra high protein treats. Currently she gets and LOVES her daily mealworms.

Well, penes are rare and will stay rare. But for selling hatching eggs, they are a challenge to hatch so you might have some issues with customers. Cream legbars will be popular forever, but there will be more eggs coming for sure. Rhodebars are also going to stay rare because they are a challenge to work with. Silkies are also always going to be popular, but lay infrequently.

The price on hatching eggs does not only reflect on the rarity of the chickens, but how often they lay, and how much of a hassle they are. Most eggs that will stay expensive will stay that way because hatching them is a hassle. You also need to have enough hens to get 12 -14 eggs ( people expect extras) to sell hatching eggs. How much space are you looking at?

If you could find croad langshams that lay the proper colored egg, you have a waiting list forever. But, I have not been able to track them down yet, as most in the US lay a brown and look NOTHING like a croad.

Another thing you want to do is look for things not heavily represented on the west coast if you are trying to sell eggs only. ( you can narrow that circle down considerably if you are going for chicks) A lot of people prefer to order from their coast, as shipping is evil. ( I had a box this week that took 4 extra days to arrive and arrived FLAT... po said they got it that way ???? Are you saying I sat on the box and shipped it??)

Also if you are selling hatching eggs, try to get a rooster that is not related to your hens. It is not possible in all breeds, but will really make a difference in the long term viability of your eggs and business.

I ship a lot of eggs, but mostly trade, because I don't like a lot of hassle, and I can sell a variety of chicks here. People who buy eggs have crazy expectations, people who buy chicks a little less so, lol.

I have been looking seriously for about a year. Only found a few brown egg laying croads that are OMG IM GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK a dozen. I almost imported some from australia, but after I tentively got stuff going, it looks like the queensland floods may have wiped out the last really good genetic flocks up there . Or at least he isn't on the web anymore and no one I know in queensland could find him. Not that they are chicken people, but the did have a phone book.

hatched chick total 4 out and about. Two mut reds, 1 Dorking/Polish and 1 choc rock. Moved the first two to the brooder. They were laying on top of the eggs that have been trying to hatch

I have a Rock that has been wearing an egg shell cape for the better part of 6 hours and two pips. The hatching champs so far are the mutts from my uncle's pen fewer than two hours soup to nuts.

I have to work a fundraiser all day tomorrow hoping the little choc rock can shake free of her shell before I have to leave for that. I guess if it is still there I will put a damp paper towel on it?? and try to get home mid day to check on everyone.

Last night I dreamed that I was hatching duckings!

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Last night must have been the night for hatching dreams!!! Both me and my daughter dreamt about it.

So it finally got dark enough to be able to candle when I put the eggs in lock down tonight.

I started out with good intentions of marking the eggs with all kinds of information like the air cell, where they were in the bator, inner pip, blah blah blah.

About the third egg I picked it up and there was a pretty large pip in it. It was one of the Polish eggs and they have been going strong all along. Lots of movement at day 7 and 10 etc. Well of course I got all nervous and my good intentions went out the window.

I didn't expect to see that and I have been really running sort of dry these last few days. I think humidity was at 28%. So then I started thinking that I didn't know how long it had been pipped and that I needed to hurry and get it in higher humidity.

Sooooo my notes went to hell. I pulled out the clears and clear quitters. There were several I could see moving around in the shell. A couple I could now hear and a lot that were full but didn't see or hear anything.

So the good news is I didn't cook ALL of them but many were suspiciously still. I have 38 out of 45 still in there but I think three or four could have quit a few days or a week ago. We will see.

My little choc rock has her head about midway down and her fanny still stuk in the membrane. The shell is mostly gone but she seems to be shrink wrapped so I wrapped her rump in the the damp paper towel. I have one of Chooks Chick Prairie Ranger babies sitting in just the bottom ot its egg. It has been out but for that since last night.

My chick #1 has a weird butt but I looked at the assisted hatching article and I think I just need to get some antibiotic on it. Anything W/O pain reliever is good right? That baby also was walking around on a bent over toe last night but this morning its feet are right as rain. It is so big next to the little polish/dorking (#2) who I am calling a she because she seemed to be a cheerleader/big sister laying down on and next to the pipping eggs and cheeping encouragement.

I hope she's a girl. I have never really thought about polish but she is a spunky little thing and she makes me smile

So not much change from last night...I did assist a tiny bit with the zipping in the chick that had pipped but made no progress in about 20 hours

so current head count is 6 and it is day 22. no signs of anything in the other eggs but I will be gone most of the day and I may be surprised when I get back.

My Privett chicks are a beautiful bunch of brown and black babies. I am totally stupid over one EE that looks like a PR on top but has a creamy underbelly and enormous cheeks. I will post pictures of her she looks like some kind of creamy dessert.

And a question...I have number 1 and 2 in the brooder they are fluffy but look so much smaller and less coordinated than the hatchery chicks who are just 3 days older. those girls seem like women of the world by comparison to the little fledgelings in the my hatch brooder. Is that normal?

I have been looking seriously for about a year. Only found a few brown egg laying croads that are OMG IM GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK a dozen. I almost imported some from australia, but after I tentively got stuff going, it looks like the queensland floods may have wiped out the last really good genetic flocks up there . Or at least he isn't on the web anymore and no one I know in queensland could find him. Not that they are chicken people, but the did have a phone book.

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I sent a PM to a guy in Australia and included you in the conversation.